You probably heard the news this past August: 72 Central and South American migrants were brutally massacred after resisting their kidnappers’ extortion attempts and demands to work for them as drug smugglers–teens and a pregnant woman among the dead. It was the worst mass-killing in Mexico since Calderón launched his “War on Drugs.”
But only the most sensational atrocities make the headlines. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission calculates that approximately 18,000 migrants are kidnapped in Mexico every year. Amnesty International estimates that six in 10 migrant women and girls traveling through Mexico fall victim to sexual assault. Each day, the victims mount— we can’t let this go on any longer.
Click here to ask President Obama to end violence against migrants!
And Mexico isn’t the only place where migrants face grave dangers. Just last week, NPR reported that despite a decrease in U.S. border crossings, migrant deaths set a record in Arizona this past year with 252 bodies discovered in the Arizona desert. Hundreds of people are dying at our country’s “doorstep” as a direct result of inhuman border enforcement policies and a broken immigration system.
President Obama has the power to push for changes in U.S. policies that would prevent the exploitation and deaths of migrants. And while we’re doing what we can to put the pressure on here in DC, the President needs to hear from concerned citizens like you.
Let President Obama know that the human rights crisis facing migrants is unacceptable!
We appreciate your ongoing activism around Mexico and borderlands issues and wanted to take a quick moment to let you know about some changes in our team that works on this campaign. After a very fruitful year, Brian Erickson has finished his time with us through Lutheran Volunteer Corps and has headed to the border in New Mexico to work for just policies on the ground. We want to send a big thank you to Brian and introduce you to Ben Leiter who will be picking up where Brian left off. Ben comes to us with a lot of great experience in Latin America and we’re excited to have him on board! To learn more about Ben, click here.
Thank you for taking action to support migrant rights today!
